


As if it's our last...

by we_have_cake



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: AU, Background Soonhoon, Gay ships, M/M, War AU, Wonhui - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-08 04:23:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15235230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/we_have_cake/pseuds/we_have_cake
Summary: "Why do you stare at him like that?"Wonwoo snaps from his reverie, looking to me as though I had pulled him from deep thought."Like your mind could swallow him whole."





	1. Chapter 1

"Why do you stare at him like that?"

 

Wonwoo snaps from his reverie, looking to me as though I had pulled him from deep thought. "Like your mind could swallow him whole."  
I hadn't grown up with much tact and my blunt words often got me a lashing, but as soon as I saw the look of concentration on my comrades face the question had tumbled from my lips before I even knew I had thought it.  
"Staring?" His brow furrows. "At who?"  
"That Chinese prisoner." I reply, setting my fork beside my plate. "Moon Junhwi."  
"I wasn't staring Jihoon-ah." The way he avoids my eyes tells me he knows he's been caught. "I was simply in my head. My eyes must have wandered." "No," I shake my head. "You were staring. Thinking about his woefully big mouth maybe?" "His mouth is in proportion to the rest of his face." Wonwoo replied curtly, taking a mouthful of stew and chewing slowly. "So you were studying him then?" I almost smile when he choked on the broth, realizing his error too late. "And I meant it metaphorically. He doesn't know when to shut up. He mouthed off his guard Soonyoung yesterday. He's lucky we treat our prisoners well or he would be black and bloody by now." Wonwoo grunted non-comitally and continued his staring and his meal, leaving me to ponder.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

"You're beginning to care for him aren't you?" I ask the question as Wonwoo prepares to walk across camp. He's been spending time with Junhwi lately. Most recent they've been teaching one of the other prisoners -a sullen boy named Seo Myungho- how to speak, write, and read Korean.  
Wonwoo pauses his actions and tastes his words carefully before releasing them into the air between us. "I very well may be Jihoon-ah. But-" He sits on his hammock and states at the cloth wall of our tent. "-all the better for us if the Chinese can realize once this war is over, how well we've treated even our prisoners, right?"  
"I suppose." I hum and begin disassembling my rifle to clean it. My eyes track him as he nods and leaves, trekking across the camp grounds towards the prisoners quarters. And I sit. And I think.


	3. Chapter 3

"You've fallen in love with the man." The accusation leaves my tongue the second my mind located the connection.  
The two of us are lying in our hammocks. I'm humming an old lullaby, and watching as Wonwoo studiously practices the Chinese symbols Junhwi taught him over and over until they're flawless. The Chinese symbols that spell the prisoners name.  
He freezes and looks over at me, pen hand shaking with slight tremors.  
"Repeat yourself if you please, because I'm sure you did not just say what I think you did."  
"You've fallen in love with him." This time it's a statement, hard and unyielding. "You've spent time with the prisoner, you've grown attached, you've fallen in love." "How so?" He demands, unconvinced that he's been caught. "You write his name over and over, you gave him your coat, you bring him flowers."  
He scoffs, brushing my proofs aside. "His name is simply practice for my Chinese. His shirt got torn when he fell into the rosebush, and he knows much about plants. I wished to know what type those blooms were."  
I shake my head. "You keep his picture beside you as though he a girl back home that you've promised your heart to."  
He takes a pause, glancing at the surprisingly realistic charcoal of Junhwi (drawn by Myungho) that he keeps on the tree stump he insists is his desk. He looks back at me, eyes wide realization crippling his features. "Dear God Jihoon. You're right." I nod. His face crumbles. "What will become of me." "Lovesickness." I reply gently. "Because you are from two different worlds."  
This time, he thinks. I leave him to do it.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why haven't you confessed yet?" We're laying on the grass, the stars twinkling bright above us. Alcohol has made my tongue loose, and my brain has long since shut itself away for the night.  
Its been two months since Wonwoo's feelings were brought to light, and he has yet to say a word in the prisoners direction. I myself have been spending more time with them and I see why my comrade is smitten. Junhwi is funny and kind, always quick of tongue with a quip or joke perfect for the occasion. Not to mention his delicate, undeniable beauty.  
Wonwoo looks at me, a sad smile on his face. "I doubt he would like me back." He replied, the truth of his words echoed in his glazed stare, I supposed he too had taken one pull to many from the whiskey bottle we shared between us.  
"Boys just don't love other men Jihoon-ah. Its just not the way the world works."  
I think of Kwon Soonyoung, Junhwi and Myungho's guard, a young man with silken black hair and sparkling eyes that disappear in crescent shaped slits when he smiles.  
And then I nod, pulling from the near empty bottle once more, letting the sting and fade of the drink distract me from my thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

"He's leaving soon." Wonwoo flinches away from my words.  
He already knows and I feel cruel for reminding him, his eyes bleed pain and his hands make fists in the towel he was tearing for rags.  
The war is over. China and Korea have come to an amicable agreement and all prisoners were due to be set homeward in a months time. . . Including Junhwi.  
"I'm aware." He murmurs, and I can hear his soul wither.  
"What will you do when he's gone?" Wonwoo looks at me finally, jaw set. Seeming stronger than I know he feels.  
"I will miss the times we've shared together, and regret the ones we didn't have time to." I hum. "You should confess to him."  
"But I won't." His nostrils flare. He's growing tired of my presence. "Your feelings will fester until death if you don't." I warn. I care for him too much to see him suffer. "Better eternal pain than rejection my friend."  
My thoughts drift once more to Soonyoung. "Maybe." I agree finally.  
He nods, rips the towel in half.  
It makes a tearing sound, similar to the one his heart makes in his chest.


	6. Chapter 6

"What will you say to him before he goes?" The two of us are moving across camp, to the place where we will bid our prisoners farewell and safe travels home. Wonwoo walks slowly, wishing to delay as long as possible. His hands shoved into the pockets of his breeches, mock indifference plastered on his handsome features.  
"I shall dismiss him as a man, and a friend." He says finally, gaze trained on his dusty shoes. "With a shot of strong liquor and a slap on the back."  
I want to protest, but I don't. I know this is hard for him.  
So Wonwoo gives Junhwi his liquor and his slap. I give Myungho a leather bound journal and encourage him to continue sketching.  
Myungho gives Junhwi a sad, strangely knowing yet slightly disapproving look as he downs the drink.  
I give Wonwoo a sense of privacy and pretend I don't hear his broken sobs that night.


	7. Chapter 7

"A letter, for you." I extend the envelope to Wonwoo. It's thick and full, stuffed with charcoal and ink smudged letters, some of them damp or wrinkled in places. "I found it buried in my things, but its marked with your name." We're packing up our footlockers, preparing for the homeward journey that we will share, but Soonyoung won't.  
The letter was located under an extra nightshirt at the bottom of my clothing pile.  
Wonwoo takes the letter, brows drawn and opens it.  
I see the look on his face as he reads the first few characters and leave so he can read in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update~  
> 7/15/18, 17:45 central time


	8. Chapter 8

"Why?" I sit by the fire, staring into the flames, eyes locked on the burning remains of the papers Wonwoo tossed in as he sat beside me.  
"He confessed his love to me." He replies.  
I see the fire light bounce off his eyes, but there is no light behind them. "One hundred and sixty seven pages of it. Numbered, dated. Spritzed with Chinese scent, kissed with shimmering gloss and soaked in his tears."  
"So why burn it?" I ask, seeing the pain in my friends heart strengthen with every page that turned to ash. "It's too late." He replies. "He's already gone. I can do nothing about it now and I would rather not be reminded every day that I could have had him if only I hadn't been so foolish."  
"You'll regret it someday." I say, despite knowing the he couldn't get the letters back even if he wanted to any longer. "No matter." He pokes the fire with a stick. "Boys just don't love other men Jihoon-ah. That's just not the way the world works."  
I nod silently. Watching him crumble.


	9. Chapter 9

"I regret it." His words are clear, but I still finish tying my sons shoe, sending him off to play before I regard Wonwoo.  
"Regret what my old friend?"  
"Burning the letters." His face is sad, wistful. He looks too old already and he's only thirty-seven.  
"I am forgetting his handwriting. His voice. The way he smelled. The way he looked. The way his laugh sounded."  
"I told you that you would." I say, not wanting to gloat, but not having any other words to offer. "I know. You were right." He looks down at his feet. "You're always right."  
"Not always." I soothe. "I've made my fair share of mistakes."


	10. Chapter 10

"Why are you staring at him?" The question drops from my lips no filter, I was never one for beating around the bush. Wonu looks at me, poking at the slop on his tray. "What? Staring? At who?"  
"The new guy." I reply, pointing across the cafeteria with my fork. "The Chinese exchange student Wen Junhui."  
"I wasn't staring Wooz." He insisted stupidly. "I must've been thinking too hard or something."  
"No you were totally staring." I nod. "Had this dopey look on your face and everything. If you think he's so cute, go ask him out or something."  
Wonu chokes on his latest mouthful of the garbage that passes for beef stew in our school. "What? Woozi! No! What if he doesn't speak Korean? What if he thinks I'm weird? What if he. . . Hates me for liking guys."  
I roll my eyes. "Oh please dude. It's the 21st century , boys like other men, no sweat. Its just the way the world works."  
His brow furrows at my statement. "Have you said that before?"  
The words bring a rush of weird deja vu.  
I think on it for a second. "Nah man, I think I heard it in a war movie once. Now stop talking to me, and go talk to him."  
"Fine." He gets up and walks over. Introduces himself. Says something probably dumb -oh god please save him.  
Junhui is smiling. Junhui is laughing. Junhui is ASKING HIM TO SIT DOWN HOLY SHIT.  
I nod, a broad grin painting my features. "About time man. I've been waiting for this for forever."  
"Whaddya mean?" My boyfriend Hoshi shoulders me gently. "Jun only transferred last week."  
It's my turn to be confused. Of course Hoshi was right, but another feeling of deja vu said that I had been waiting ages for Wonwoo to make a move. "I. . . Dunno, forget it Hosh." He shrugs and kisses my cheek. I lay my head on his shoulder and watch Wonu and Jun. As they laugh together, I grab my boyfriends hand and something inside me says. 'It is never too late.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of our wonderful adventure of As if it's our last...
> 
> I am so appreciative of everyone who has read this, left kudos, and stuck with the story. Thank you all so much, for sticking with me. 
> 
> Today is comeback day and I just wanted to shove in here that I'm so proud of our boys <3 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and remember there are more works to come.   
> Thank you all 
> 
> -Micky


End file.
